Cons:

We've seen a number of developers mash-up tower defense and action games over the past year, creating a new genre I like to call ACTION TOWER (patent pending, all-caps yell mandatory). But from Toy Soldiers: Cold War to Trenched to the forthcoming Dungeon Defenders, no one has quite been able to find that perfect balance between strategy and combat. That is, until Orcs Must Die! Packed with tons of classic tower defense variety and polished action fun, Robot Entertainment's latest stands atop the ACTION TOWER, ready to take on all comers with traps, weapons, and one-liners.

As you can tell by the lead, I'm an Orcs Must Die! fan. It's partly because the game really took me by surprise. I never had the chance to go hands-on with the title at any of the big gaming expos over the past year, so I went into my review without any preview impressions. I expected a decent tower defense/action game; I discovered a title that sets the bar at an impressive height for the burgeoning hybrid genre.

"The game's many layers reveal themselves in a steady, satisfying progression that keep the game fresh, interesting, and most of all, flat-out-fun."

The rundown: You play as a War Mage tasked with defending precious Rift Fortresses from the invading Orc masses. Each fortress contains an entrance the Orcs burst through in progressive waves and a Rift Portal the Orcs want to get to. It's up to you to stop them, and you'll have an arsenal full of traps and weapons to do just that.

It's a simple premise and one that tower defense fans will instantly recognize once they set foot in their first Rift Fortress, regardless of the third-person perspective. The game starts slowly, with the Orc entrance and Rift exit set up in a basic corridor, and you armed with only a crossbow, "Bladestaff," and a couple of basic traps. But once Orcs Must Die! gets going, it never stops, and like Shrek's onion, the game's many layers reveal themselves in a steady, satisfying progression that keep the game fresh, interesting, and most of all, flat-out-fun.

As you make your way through the nicely varied mix of open, narrow, and multi-level Rift Fortress maps, you'll add the Arrow Wall, Boom Barrel, Wind Belt, Push Trap, Wall Blade, Brimstone, Steam Trap, and much, much more to your arsenal, providing oodles of options in how you choose to defend your territory and take on the Orcs. But for each ingenious device and weapon you're awarded, Robot Entertainment (Age of Empires Online) wisely throws new types of Orcs at you, starting with the brutish Orc Warrior and expanding to include fire-arrow-launching Crossbow Orcs, speedy Kobold Runners, enormous and powerful Ogres, and many more, including flying Hell Bats that avoid your cleverly placed traps and tough Gnoll Hunters that don't try to get to the Rift Portal, they hunt after you.

Elven Archers do damage from afar.

The level of variety in Orcs Must Die! is staggering, allowing gamers to give their creative itch a good long scratch. For example, you can funnel Orcs into tight areas using Barricades, and if you leave yourself enough room, you can set Elven Archers behind those barricades to fire arrows into the Orc horde from relative safety. Throw Tar Pits and Floor Spikes into the mix, and you've got yourself a regular sidewalk of death. Awesome.

Helpful and saucy Weavers also make their way into the adventure, allowing you to make your War Mage or the traps he sets more powerful -- for a little coin. And hard-earned Rift Points can used to upgrade your arsenal, providing a bit of customization that allows you to focus on playing the game the way you want. BioWare promised the ability to think like a general and fight like a Spartan in Dragon Age II, but Orcs Must Die! is better suited to the billing.

For example, at the beginning of each Rift Fortress, you're allowed an indefinite period to explore all of the map's twists and turns and peek at the lineup of different Orc types you'll be facing. You can then jump into your Spellbook, select the appropriate traps and weapons for the job, and then place that Push Trap in the perfect spot to launch Orcs into a nearby lava pit. There are brief breaks to buy and set new traps between Orc waves (the more Orcs you kill, the more coin you make), and before the most difficult massive waves toward the end of each level, you're granted another indefinite period to tweak your plan and reset your defenses. It's a smart game design decision by Robot that indicates the studio is well versed in the tower defense genre.

The action is intense, like when a Gnoll Hunter catches your scent.

But all that strategy doesn't mean the studio sacrificed the action. The combat controls in Orcs Must Die! are intuitive and straightforward, with a solid mix of ranged and melee options. Each weapon at your disposal has a basic attack and a mana-depleting power attack that allows you to take on a single enemy or groups of Orcs. My favorite toy is the very cool Ice Bracer, which provides the perfect example of how players can creatively mix traps and weapons: freeze your foes solid when they're standing under a Swinging Mace, and smile in satisfaction as they're smashed into Orc ice cubes.

Robot Entertainment makes a few minor missteps, most notably in the regular commentary by your doltish War Mage that shoots for Ash from Army of Darkness but lands on drug-crazed Charlie Sheen. I couldn't help but wince at the all-too frequent "Winning!" And while your Orc enemies will occasionally change their routes to avoid traps, they're not very bright and are prone to running in straight lines until they hit a wall like a green, digital Roomba with legs.

Beyond the nitpicking issues, this game rocks, especially when you consider the $15 price tag. Already packed with loads of levels and replay inducing variety, the game's different difficulty levels will also have you heading back to the earliest Rift Fortresses to put your experience to the test against faster, stronger Orcs. I was pleasantly surprised by just how good Orcs Must Die! is, and I think you will be, too. Welcome to the new standard in ACTION TOWER (still waiting on that patent, don't steal my stuff).